BLOGS

Bridesmaids
This summer's best mainstream movie gets a deluxe DVD treatment befitting its box-office smash status. As a reluctant maid-of-honor who makes a mess of her best friend's impending nuptials, co-writer/star Kristen Wiig -- who almost single-handedly makes up for inflicting Gilly upon us with her first studio vehicle -- heads up a crack female ensemble that includes her ex-Saturday Night Live co-star Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper and, last but not least, scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy. The women may rule the movie, but supporting players Jon Hamm and Chris O'Dowd do their gender proud as well, playing Wiig's frequent casual sex partner and potential new boyfriend respectively. All in all, it's comedy bliss. (Also available via Movies on Demand)Extras: Since much of the cast hails from an improv background, it's no surprise that the bonus features menu is dominated by outtakes, deleted scenes, alternate scenes and extended scenes of Wiig & Co. riffing, going off-book and in general trying to crack each other up. There's also a raucous commentary track featuring all of the bridesmaids (minus Byrne) and director Paul Feig, a making-of featurette with cast and crew interviews and the full climactic performance of "Hold On" by a reunited Wilson Phillips. Warning: you won't be able to get that song out of your head for weeks.

The Ten
If you're not all laughed out after Bridesmaids, give this anthology of short comic sketches based on the Ten Commandments a spin. The sophomore feature from former The State and Stella writer/performer David Wain, The Ten isn't as consistently hilarious as the movie he directed previously (Wet Hot American Summer) or afterwards ( Role Models), but there are some great bits here, most notably a sketch starring Liev Schreiber as a suburban family man that seriously covets his neighbor's possessions and another with Wain's regular collaborator Ken Marino as a surgeon that kills his patient on the operating table "as a goof." (Considerably less amusing is a belabored sketch about prison rape starring the usually reliable Rob Corddry.) The Ten was previously released on DVD in 2008, but that edition has been out of print for awhile. Pick up this new edition -- along with Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models and a few State discs -- and have your own David Wain retrospective.Extras: Most of the bonus features that were on the earlier release pop up again here, including outtakes and deleted scenes.

Dumbo: 70th Anniversary Edition
Walt Disney's fourth animated feature is one of the studio's saddest (Dumbo's mom cradling her son through the bars of her cage), strangest (that whole pink elephant sequence) and, at times, most dated (those Amos & Andy-like crows). But there's a simple power to this story of a big-eared outcast who becomes a big-top star that makes it hard to shake. A box-office hit in its day, Dumbo is still a well-liked picture, ranking fourth on Time Magazine's recent "Top 25 Animated Films of All Time" list, behind The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (awesome), Wall-E (awesomer) and their number one pick Pinocchio (aw, hell no).Extras: Pixar mainstay Pete Docter (director of Monsters Inc. and Up) discusses Dumbo's influence on a commentary track, a making-of documentary, a featurette about the popular Disneyland ride based on the film, two deleted scenes and some kid-friendly DVD games.

The Others
A moody, atmospheric ghost story from Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar, The Others is one of the previous decade's best horror films and ranks amongst star Nicole Kidman's finest performances. In a small country manor situated in the misty landscape of the small island of Jersey, an overprotective mother shields her young light-sensitive children from the sun as well the poltergeist that may be haunting their home. Amenábar's execution is terrific throughout, right up to and including the terrific final twist.Extras: A making-of documentary and a series of featurettes, including one devoted to the specific and apparently real condition (xeroderma pigmentosum) that the kids in the movie suffer from.

Also on DVD:
Despite a cast that includes Bruce Willis, 50 Cent and Ryan Phillipe, the heist movie Setup bypassed theaters for a straight-to-DVD release. No wonder the Bruce-meister just signed on for a fifth Die Hard. Because someone out there apparently demanded it (Anna Faris' agents, perhaps?), the horror spoofs Scary Movie 2 and Scary Movie 3 arrive on Blu-ray this week. Neither movie is particularly great or even good, but Faris is always a blast to watch. If you want to see actual cinematic classics (not to mention a pair of legendary beauties) in new high-def transfers, check out Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's: 50th Anniversary Edition and Sophia Loren in the four-movie Sophia Loren Collection. Finally, celebrated hoofer Danny Kaye sings, dances and pratfalls his way through 1949's The Inspector General as a snake-oil salesman that experiences a case of mistaken identity when he passes through a small town.